The present invention relates to a catheter for nasogastric intubation.
Normally, a catheter for nasogastric intubation to be used for nutritional purposes comprises a weighted portion in which a weight is sealed into a distal end of a soft small-diameter plastic tube. The weighted portion is inserted through a nostril into the esophagous and into the stomach or the intestines, the weight facilitating catheter placement for supply of a nutritious liquid through one or two side holes positioned slightly above the weighted portion.
Since the catheter remains positioned in and through the nostril for a long period of time, a patient may feel considerable pain. To avoid such pain, the catheter is preferably formed of a material as soft as possible. Moreover, since the catheter remains in contact with the walls of the internal organs for a long period of time, if the catheter is formed of a hard material, the tissue of the walls of the internal organs may be injured Also, for this reason, it is desired that the catheter be formed from a soft plastic tube. However, any such tube has to be inserted into the stomach and intestines following a tortuous path through the nostril, the narrow-passage larynx, and the esophagus and therefore a catheter made of a soft plastic tube lacks the requisite stiffness and is therefore difficult to insert.
In the past, therefore, a method has been employed in which a guide wire is inserted into the bore of the catheter to increase the catheter stiffness. In this procedure, however, insertion of the guide wire into the catheter required that a lubricant be used to coat the internal surfaces of the bore of the catheter to decrease the frictional resistance therebetween. Such procedure is unnecessarily time-consuming, and in addition, insertion of the guide wire is cumbersome.
Furthermore, the procedure may result in projection of the the end of the guide wire through one of the side holes of the catheter where it may pierce the walls of the internal organs.